The Big Think: Sometimes, influence isn’t what you say, it’s how you say it!
What the heck is influence anyway?
I think it's a complicated path to influence and it becomes highly subjective--even if you can reduce it to a Kred or Klout Score. I've been told that I'm influential. And in the very same breath have been compared to Charlie Sheen and to Albert Einstein.
Well, I'm neither one of these two influencers. But my influence score is better than Charlie's and Einstein doesn't have a twitter or Facebook account. But am I really more influential? For me, influence is a surrogate. It's a marker for other qualities that MY AUDIENCE finds important. Wit, humor, relevance, timing and content are just part of the story. The various aspects of this "content" are all wrapped around my brand. And there lies a central truth.
INFLUENCE, in part = (composition) + (your brand)
I can say "here now the news". Pee Wee Herman can say it or Walter Cronkite can. The same worlds resonate differently. And that drives influence. Even Yoda knows this. His philosophical wit is warmed over philosophy 101, but his transposition of words enhances his content!
My interest is science and medicine. And there is no bigger example as to how the delivery of content can make or break a message. Carl Sagan knew. My college physics professor didn't. Carl Sagan was influential. My professor wasn't--even when they were teaching the very same content.
In the final analysis, I influence many people because I tickle their intellect...and make them think and smile. And that's why influence can be so tricky. So, what is the power of personality in driving influence? Next time you write a blog post or deliver a presentation, remember that sometimes people cannot hear YOU because WHAT you are defines the message before it ever makes its way to their ears!
Now let's talk about that Kred / Klout algorithm!